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National Home for Jewish Children in Denver (1928-1952)

 Organization

Biography

The National Asthma Center (NAC) existed under a series of names. It was The National Asthma Center (NAC) (1973-1978) had a series of names: the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children (1907-1927), National Home for Jewish Children in Denver (1928-1952), Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver (JNHAC) (1953-1956), and the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital (CARIH) (1957-1972). NAC was an independent institution from 1907 until 1978, when it merged with National Jewish Hospital to form the National Jewish Hospital and Research Center/National Asthma Center. The NAC campus in west Denver at 19th and Julian Streets sold in 1981. During the last part of the nineteenth century, Denver, Colorado, became a haven for those suffering from tuberculosis, "the white plague." However, no formal medical treatment facilities existed until the opening of the National Jewish Hospital (NJH) in 1899. Five years later, the Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) began treating patients with advanced cases of tuberculosis. A Denver housewife, Fannie Lorber, became concerned about the plight of Jewish children left homeless by a parent's hospitalization or orphaned by a parent's death at NJH or JCRS. In 1907, she and her friends Bessie Willens and Sadie Francis organized other local East European immigrant women and founded the Denver Sheltering Home. For the next 51 years, Fannie Lorber presided over the volunteer board of the Home and was the driving force behind fundraising efforts. At first, funded entirely by the Denver Jewish Community, the Home's expansion eventually led to a system of fundraising Ladies' Auxiliaries throughout the United States. The Home initially sheltered only orphaned or neglected children of tuberculosis victims, but it soon expanded its mission to help combat delinquency among Denver's Jewish children. An arrangement was made with Judge Ben B. Lindsey to send first offenders to the Home rather than to a detention center. (Judge Lindsey created the Colorado Juvenile Court system.) The Home also began taking in orphaned and needy children from other cities, and by 1920, approximately 100 children were living on the expanded campus. The Home's founders aimed to provide a cultured, stimulating, and Jewish environment for the children that was as close to family life as possible, unlike most orphanages of the period. In 1939 the Home instituted the long-term residential treatment of children with intractable asthma. In the 1950s, medical, psychiatric, and research personnel were added to treat children with asthma and allergies. In 1951, Dr. Allan Hurst became the first full-time medical director, and Jack Gershtenson became the administrator, a position he held for nearly thirty years. The Home officially became a non-sectarian in 1953. Dr. Murray Pershkin, chief consultant to the home from 1940 until 1959, advocated '"parentectomy,"' the removal of the child from his or her home for up to two years. In 1957, the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital was created. At the time, it was the only research facility in the country dedicated to asthma and allergic diseases. In 1966, Drs. Kimishige and Taruko Ishizaka, a husband and wife research team at CARIH, discovered immunoglobin E, the physiological basis for asthma. In 1972, CARIH became the National Asthma Center. By the 1970s, National Jewish Hospital had gone from treating tuberculosis to treating a broader range of respiratory diseases, including asthma. It was decided in 1978 that a merger of the two institutions would be beneficial. Patients remained at the NAC campus until 1981, when it was closed. Fannie Lorber was president from 1907 to 1958, Arthur Lorber was president from 1958 to 1975, and Charles M. Schayer was president from 1975 to 1978.

Found in 345 Collections and/or Records:

Children in a Nursery, 1931

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0004.00017
Abstract

Seven children in cribs and around a table in a nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children. Two matrons care for them, one named Miss McNeil.

Dates: 1931

Children in the Dining Room at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, between 1930-1940

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00078
Abstract

Children eat in the dining room at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital. Standing in the rear of the room are Superintendent William Cohen and William R. Blumenthal, and Executive Director of the National Home for Jewish Children.

Dates: between 1930-1940

Children in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, between 1930-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00075
Abstract

A group of children in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1930-1960

Children in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, between 1930-1960

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00076
Abstract

A group of children in the Nursery at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, which later became part of the National Jewish Hospital.

Dates: between 1930-1960

Children of the National Asthma Center Perform Gymnastics, between 1970-1980

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0009.00004
Abstract Two unidentified boys from the National Asthma Center perform gymnastics. An unidentified woman watches them while kneeling on the floor with exercise mats. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907 as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the...
Dates: between 1970-1980

Children of the National Asthma Center Play Football, between 1970-1980

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0009.00003
Abstract Three unidentified boys from the National Asthma Center play football. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907 as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name changed to the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children at Denver and the...
Dates: between 1970-1980

Children of the National Asthma Center Playing Basketball, between 1970-1980

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0009.00002
Abstract Two unidentified children from the National Asthma Center playing basketball. The National Asthma Center's history began in 1907 as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had passed away from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name changed to the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children at Denver and...
Dates: between 1970-1980

Children on a Playground at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1936

 Item
Identifier: B063.04.0004.00016
Abstract

Several children pose with William Blumenthal, the National Home for Jewish Children fund raiser, on a playground. Identified children are Dan Justman, Sara Appel, Fred Nean, Fanny Barret, Doris Greenstein, Joey Barret, Mildred Nean, Rachel Passman, and Benny Passman.''

Dates: 1936

Children Perform at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, between 1930-1952

 Item
Identifier: B063.03.0011.00079
Abstract

Sarah Klein (right) and Mildren Seidenberg (left) rehearse for a show at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver, located in Denver, Colorado. The play (probably Hansel and Gretal) was presented at East High School in Denver and was open to the entire community.

Dates: between 1930-1952

Children Play in a Fountain at the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver, 1942 July

 Item
Identifier: B089.12.0020.0027.00001
Abstract A group of boys and girls play in a fountain at the National Home for Jewish Children at Denver. The National Home for Jewish Children at Denver began in 1907 as the Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children, which was a refuge for lower-income children whose parents were being treated for tuberculosis, or had died from tuberculosis. In 1928 the institution changed names to the National Home for Jewish Children in Denver. In 1953, the name changed to the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic...
Dates: 1942 July

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 343
Collection 2
 
Subject
Colorado 334
Denver (Colo.) 317
Children 285
Asthmatics 277
Group homes for children 233
∨ more
Hospitals 205
West Colfax (Denver, Colo.) 181
Slides (Photography) 180
Jews 70
Social work administration 60
Social work with children 60
Social workers 60
Photographs 55
Speeches 54
Medical centers 53
Tuberculosis 53
Jewish children 45
Colfax Avenue (Colo.) 32
Medicine 27
Rehabilitation 24
New York (N.Y.) 14
Boys 12
Recreation 10
Girls 8
Charities 6
Oral histories 6
Jewish orphanages 5
Jews -- Colorado -- Charities 5
Charity organization 4
Chicago (Ill.) 4
Illinois 4
Dance 3
Fund raising 3
Playgrounds 3
Social service -- Colorado -- Denver 3
Asthma -- Treatment 2
California 2
Dance recitals 2
Dinners and dining 2
Flying discs (Game) 2
Fund raisers (Persons) 2
Jewish Refugees 2
Jewish orphans 2
Jewish women 2
Nurses 2
Saint Louis (Mo.) 2
Table tennis 2
Tuberculosis -- Hospitals -- Colorado -- Denver 2
Wings over Denver (Documentary film) 2
Basketball 1
Book objects 1
Bookbinding 1
Cats 1
Chickens 1
Cleveland (Ohio) 1
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) 1
Confirmation (Jewish rite) 1
Corporate minutes 1
Cows 1
Dancers 1
Denver (Colo.) -- Social life and customs 1
Dogs 1
Edgewater (Colo.) 1
Executives 1
Florida 1
Food 1
Football 1
Gardens 1
Generals 1
Gymnastics 1
Hobbies 1
Israel 1
Jewish men 1
Jewish newspapers 1
Jewish women -- Colorado -- Denver 1
Kitchens 1
Leadville (Colo.) 1
Los Angeles (Calif.) 1
Miami (Fla.) 1
Newspapers 1
Occasional speeches 1
Ohio 1
Oral reading 1
Organization 1
Pets 1
Picnics 1
Political prisoners 1
Printers 1
Protest and social movements 1
Refuseniks 1
Reports 1
Rīga (Latvia) 1
San Francisco (Calif.) 1
Sanatoriums 1
Sewing 1
Snack foods 1
Social service 1
Speeches, addresses, etc., American 1
Spivak (Colo.) 1
Sun-baths 1
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